These Austin Billionaires Are Among Richest In U.S.: Forbes

AUSTIN, TX — The coronavirus has wreaked havoc on the U.S. economy, yet billionaires in Austin and across the globe are significantly wealthier than they were a year ago, according to this year’s recently released Forbes World's Billionaires List.

The number of billionaires on Forbes’ 35th annual list jumped to an unprecedented 2,755 people, 660 more than a year ago. Altogether, they are worth $13.1 trillion, up from $8 trillion in 2020.

Among those on the list, 86 percent are richer today than they were a year ago, including Austin's recent arrival, Elon Musk, whose wealth grew by $126 billion since last year.

His total wealth, Forbes estimates, is now $151 billion, enough to buy over 7.5 billion pounds of brisket from Black's Barbecue at $19.99 per pound. It's also about 1.9 million times Austin's median yearly household income of $76,925.

The U.S. Census Bureau found in 2019 that over 13 percent of the city's population lives in poverty. That's $26,500 for a family of four, according to the federal government, or about 0.000017 percent of Musk's wealth.

The numbers will likely spark outrage, writes Forbes Chief Content Officer Randall Lane. “There’s no getting around a collective $5 trillion wealth surge during a pandemic, when most of the world felt scared, sick, besieged,” he wrote in a comprehensive essay titled “Operation Wealth Speed."

However, “the underlying trends offer a road map to greater prosperity for all,” he continued. “Like anything else salvaged from a once-a-century plague, we just need to be brave enough to harness it.”

A total of 10 billionaires on this year’s list hail from Austin, with Elon Musk at the top.

Musk, the South African founder of Tesla and SpaceX, announced in December that he was moving to Texas. He's now the richest man in the city with a net worth of $151 billion, according to Forbes.

Other Austin billionaires on the list include:

• Michael Dell, Chairman and CEO of Dell Inc., $45.10 billion
• Robert F. Smith, private equity, $6 billion.
• Bert Beveridge, vodka, $4.6 billion.
• Thai Lee, IT provider, $3.2 billion
• Joseph Liemandt, software, $3 billion
• John Paul DeJoria, fasion & retail, $2.7 billion
• Jim Breyer, Founder and CEO of Breyer Capital, $2.5 billion
• David Booth, Chairman and CEO of Dimensional Fund Advisors, $1.8 billion
• Whitney Wolfe Herd, Founder of Bumble, $1.3 billion

To compile this year’s list, Forbes used a snapshot of its real-time billionaires rankings by analyzing stock prices and exchange rates for March 5.

A record 493 people made their debut on this year’s list. Another 250 who’d fallen off in the past made a reappearance, according to Forbes. This year’s list includes a record 328 female billionaires, up from 241 in 2020.

Soon-to-be-former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos retained the top spot on this year’s list for the fourth consecutive year. Bezos, who founded the e-commerce giant out of his garage in Seattle, Washington, will step down as CEO at the end of this year.

Meanwhile, Elon Musk soared to the No. 2 spot, up from No. 31 on last year’s ranking. Bernard Arnault of LVMH remains at No. 3, followed by Bill Gates at No. 4. Rounding out this year’s top five is Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg.

See the full 2021 Forbes Billionaires List.